Injustice Watch is researching Cook County judges who are running for retention in November 2026 for our judicial election guide. 

Circuit court judges serve 6-year and appellate court judges serve 10-year terms. At the end of their term, judges have to run for retention. Voters will be given the option to vote “yes” or “no” to keeping the judge in office. A judge must receive at least 60% yes votes to stay on the bench.

There are 60 circuit court judges and one appellate court judge running for retention this year.

Below are the names of the Cook County judges who have filed to run for retention in November, listed alphabetically (with their current assignment in parentheses).

Have you had any of them as a judge in your case? Practiced in front of them as an attorney? Do you know them outside of the courtroom? Please let us know about your experience below. Your submission will be confidential. You can indicate if you’re open to further conversation with one of our reporters on or off the record.

Appellate court:

• Bertina Lampkin

Circuit court:

• Julie B. Aimen (Domestic Relations)
• John M. Allegretti (1st Municipal)
• Erin Haggerty Antonietti (6th District)
• Edward A. Arce (Domestic Relations)
• Laura Ayala-Gonzalez (Criminal)
• Andrea M. Buford (Child Protection)
• Krista D. Butler (1st Municipal Eviction)
• Thomas J. Byrne (Criminal)
• Thomas J. Carroll (6th District)
• Patrick K. Coughlin (6th District)
• Thomas M. Cushing (Law)
• Maire Aileen Dempsey (Law)
• Sondra Nicole Denmark (1st Municipal Trials)
• Jamie G. Dickler (Probate)
• Patricia M. Fallon (Domestic Relations)
• Michael A. Forti (Domestic Relations)
• Megan E. Goldish (Domestic Violence)
• Jonathan Green (Law)
• Anjana M.J. Hansen (2nd District)
• Sheree D. Henry (4th District)
• Kerry M. Kennedy (5th District)
• Diana L. Kenworthy (Criminal)
• Robert D. Kuzas (1st Municipal Misdemeanor)
• Anthony C. Kyriakopoulos (Chancery)
• John J. Mahoney III (5th District)
• Daniel E. Maloney (6th District)
• Maritza Martinez (Domestic Relations)
• Mary C. Marubio (2nd District)
• Celestia L. Mays (4th District)
• Terrence J. McGuire (Probate)
• Maura McMahon Zeller (Domestic Relations)
• Regina A. Mescall (Domestic Relations)
• Bridget A. Mitchell (Law)
• Teresa Molina-Gonzalez (4th District)
• Caroline Kate Moreland (Chancery)
• John G. Mulroe (Juvenile Justice)
• Lorraine Murphy (2nd District)
• Lewis Michael Nixon (Chancery)
• Eileen M. O’Connor (Law)
• Nichole C. Patton (Law)
• James Paul Pieczonka (3rd District)
• Joan E. Powell (Law)
• Jill Rose Quinn (Domestic Relations)
• Pamela Reaves-Harris (1st Municipal Housing)
• Judith C. Rice (Domestic Violence)
• Kristal Royce Rivers (5th District)
• Abbey Fishman Romanek (Domestic Relations)
• Kristyna C. Ryan (4th District)
• Patricia O’Brien Sheahan (Law)
• Levander Smith Jr. (Child Protection)
• Tiesha L. Smith (Juvenile Justice)
• Chris Stacey (1st Municipal)
• Perla Tirado (1st Municipal)
• Gerardo Tristan Jr. (1st Municipal)
• Ursula Walowski (Criminal)
• Elizabeth A. Walsh (Law)
• Tyria B. Walton (Criminal)
• Maureen Ward Kirby (County)
• Steven Gregory Watkins (Criminal)
• Lynn Weaver-Boyle (Chancery)

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What can you tell us about these Cook County judges running for retention?

by Injustice Watch Staff, Injustice Watch
June 2, 2026

<h1>What can you tell us about these Cook County judges running for retention?</h1> <p class="byline">by Injustice Watch Staff, Injustice Watch <br />June 2, 2026</p> <p>Injustice Watch is researching Cook County judges who are running for retention in November 2026 for our <a href="https://www.injusticewatch.org/topics/judges/judicial-elections/">judicial election guide</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Circuit court judges serve 6-year and appellate court judges serve 10-year terms. At the end of their term, judges have to run for retention. Voters will be given the option to vote "yes" or "no" to keeping the judge in office. A judge must receive at least 60% yes votes to stay on the bench.</p> <p>There are 60 circuit court judges and one appellate court judge running for retention this year.</p> <p>Below are the names of the Cook County judges who have filed to run for retention in November, listed alphabetically (with their current assignment in parentheses).</p> <p>Have you had any of them as a judge in your case? Practiced in front of them as an attorney? Do you know them outside of the courtroom? Please let us know about your experience below. Your submission will be confidential. You can indicate if you're open to further conversation with one of our reporters on or off the record.</p> <p><strong>Appellate court:</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Bertina Lampkin</li> </ul> <p><strong>Circuit court:</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Julie B. Aimen (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>John M. Allegretti (1st Municipal)</li> <li>Erin Haggerty Antonietti (6th District)</li> <li>Edward A. Arce (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Laura Ayala-Gonzalez (Criminal)</li> <li>Andrea M. Buford (Child Protection)</li> <li>Krista D. Butler (1st Municipal Eviction)</li> <li>Thomas J. Byrne (Criminal)</li> <li>Thomas J. Carroll (6th District)</li> <li>Patrick K. Coughlin (6th District)</li> <li>Thomas M. Cushing (Law)</li> <li>Maire Aileen Dempsey (Law)</li> <li>Sondra Nicole Denmark (1st Municipal Trials)</li> <li>Jamie G. Dickler (Probate)</li> <li>Patricia M. Fallon (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Michael A. Forti (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Megan E. Goldish (Domestic Violence)</li> <li>Jonathan Green (Law)</li> <li>Anjana M.J. Hansen (2nd District)</li> <li>Sheree D. Henry (4th District)</li> <li>Kerry M. Kennedy (5th District)</li> <li>Diana L. Kenworthy (Criminal)</li> <li>Robert D. Kuzas (1st Municipal Misdemeanor)</li> <li>Anthony C. Kyriakopoulos (Chancery)</li> <li>John J. Mahoney III (5th District)</li> <li>Daniel E. Maloney (6th District)</li> <li>Maritza Martinez (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Mary C. Marubio (2nd District)</li> <li>Celestia L. Mays (4th District)</li> <li>Terrence J. McGuire (Probate)</li> <li>Maura McMahon Zeller (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Regina A. Mescall (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Bridget A. Mitchell (Law)</li> <li>Teresa Molina-Gonzalez (4th District)</li> <li>Caroline Kate Moreland (Chancery)</li> <li>John G. Mulroe (Juvenile Justice)</li> <li>Lorraine Murphy (2nd District)</li> <li>Lewis Michael Nixon (Chancery)</li> <li>Eileen M. O'Connor (Law)</li> <li>Nichole C. Patton (Law)</li> <li>James Paul Pieczonka (3rd District)</li> <li>Joan E. Powell (Law)</li> <li>Jill Rose Quinn (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Pamela Reaves-Harris (1st Municipal Housing)</li> <li>Judith C. Rice (Domestic Violence)</li> <li>Kristal Royce Rivers (5th District)</li> <li>Abbey Fishman Romanek (Domestic Relations)</li> <li>Kristyna C. Ryan (4th District)</li> <li>Patricia O'Brien Sheahan (Law)</li> <li>Levander Smith Jr. (Child Protection)</li> <li>Tiesha L. Smith (Juvenile Justice)</li> <li>Chris Stacey (1st Municipal)</li> <li>Perla Tirado (1st Municipal)</li> <li>Gerardo Tristan Jr. (1st Municipal)</li> <li>Ursula Walowski (Criminal)</li> <li>Elizabeth A. Walsh (Law)</li> <li>Tyria B. Walton (Criminal)</li> <li>Maureen Ward Kirby (County)</li> <li>Steven Gregory Watkins (Criminal)</li> <li>Lynn Weaver-Boyle (Chancery)</li> </ul> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judicial-elections/2026-retention/2026/cook-county-judges-running-for-retention-november-2026-tips/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.injusticewatch.org&quot;&gt;Injustice Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.injusticewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/cropped-Injustice-Watch-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.injusticewatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=464052&amp;amp;ga4=G-EKE4ZDKXQD&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judicial-elections/2026-retention/2026/cook-county-judges-running-for-retention-november-2026-tips/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/injusticewatch.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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